Collection: National Gallery

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Main Collection

  The collection started with the purchase of 38 paintings from the collection of John Julius Angerstein, which included both historical Continental works as well as representative paintings from the British School and even a work by a then living painter, Sir David Wilkie. At the start, there was no established annual purchase grant, so the growth of the collection was heavily reliant on gifts and bequests, which began with the Beaumont Gift in 1826 and the Holwell Carr Bequest in 1831. After 1855, when the Gallery’s management was reconstituted, a new annual purchasing grant was established, and a policy instituted which envisioned the Gallery becoming the national repository of Western European art from its origins in the mid-13th century. This remained the case until 2014, when the Gallery acquired its first American painting, at which point the Gallery’s strapline changed to indicate that it was a Gallery of paintings in the Western European tradition,

  Contextual Collection

  The Contextual Collection was formed in 2008, in order to exercise appropriate care for works of art owned by the Gallery, but which were not considered to be part of the normal collecting remit of the main/National Collection. These included works which illuminated and celebrated the history of the Gallery. This was called the ‘History’ collection but was renamed the ‘Contextual Collection’ in 2023, to reflect the broader range of objects in the collection, for example, those by associate artists.

  Library Collection

  The Library was established in 1870 with the purchase of the private library of some 2,000 volumes belonging to the late Sir Charles Eastlake, the first Director of the National Gallery.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Main Collection

  The National Gallery houses the national collection of painting in the Western European tradition, spanning the period from the thirteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The Gallery aims to tell the story of painting in the Western European tradition as completely as possible and at the highest possible level.

  The collection includes masterpieces such as Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of Christ, Holbein’s Ambassadors, Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks, Vermeer’s Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus, Turner’s Fighting Temeraire and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. The work of some of the greatest painters, for example Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin, Monet and Cezanne, is represented in great depth, with a range of works of varying types and from different periods of the artists’ careers.

  The National Gallery is also custodian to the following collections, which are distinctly separate from the National Collection. The works in these collections are not subject to the constraints of the Gallery and Galleries Act 1992.

  Collection development for the Library and Archive is supported by policies required for Archive Service Accreditation.

  Contextual Collection

  The National Gallery’s Contextual Collection consists of works of art and objects, acquired by the Gallery since its foundation, which illuminate the history of the Gallery, its buildings, its collection and its relationship with contemporary artists.

  The Contextual Collection includes portraits of former National Gallery staff, directors, trustees and benefactors; depictions of the Gallery’s buildings and their interiors at different periods; internal and external architectural sculpture and mosaics forming part of the Gallery’s fabric; and furniture and objects that have a significant connection to the Gallery. It also includes commissions, works of art by contemporary artists, including Artists in Residence or Associate Artists, as well as other artists whose work has been the subject of temporary exhibitions at the National Gallery, or who have worked directly from the collection.

  Frame Collection

  The Gallery consists of approximately 3,000 frames, including original frames acquired with certain paintings, antique frames subsequently acquired to frame Gallery paintings, and reproduction frames, either produced at the Gallery or externally at various moments.

  Library Collection

  The Library contains around 100,000 printed volumes relevant to the study of the history of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the early 20th century. The Library’s holdings include monographs, catalogues raisonnes, exhibition catalogues, and pamphlets; works on iconography; permanent collection catalogues from the National Gallery and important galleries throughout the world; a fine collection of publications relating to private collections in this country and abroad; a significant collection of early guidebooks; a strong collection of early source works consisting of approximately 2,000 titles published before 1850; catalogues of picture sales from major auction houses and reasonably complete runs of the catalogues of certain commercial dealers; over 250 periodical titles, of which 150 are current.

  Archive Collection

  The National Gallery Archive holds records generated by the Gallery, from its establishment in 1824, in the course of its business. These records are Public Records, and the Archive is recognised as a Place of Deposit by the National Archives. Gallery records are selected for permanent preservation due to their evidential, informational or historical value, in line with the Public Records Acts of 1958 and 1967, and National Archives’ standards.

  The Archive holds records from individuals and corporate bodies, where they have a particular relevance to the history of the Gallery, its Collection, or the history of collecting European paintings. This includes the private papers of staff, trustees, collectors and academics, or papers relating to pictures in the Gallery’s Collection.

  The management of the Archive is guided by the Code of Practice on Archives for Museums and Galleries in the United Kingdom (third edition, 2002). The Archive Development Plan and Policy are managed separately to this policy through the Archive Service Accreditation.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC